Why Spartan contestants are told to cover up

IF YOU loved watching Ninja Warrior for the freakish athleticism on display, you're probably going to love Channel Seven's new show Australian Spartan.

But if you're planning to tune in for a cheeky perv, you might be a tad disappointed.

Australian Spartan, which launches tonight at 7pm, is just like Ninja Warrior but with a few key differences.

Instead of athletes competing on their own, Spartan challenges teams of three to complete the obstacle course. The trios must work together to conquer each obstacle before moving onto the next one.

The Australian Spartan course is massive.

The field of contestants will eventually be whittled down to two teams who will go head-to-head in a grand final course with the winning team taking home $150,000.

The other big difference is the amount of skin on show.

Whereas Ninja Warrior is a flesh-fest, Australian Spartan contestants are advised to cover up by the show's behind the scenes fitness consultant, Shane Yost.

"You're going to be throwing your body onto some of these obstacles so you might want to think about compression wear," Yost told news.com.au when asked what he recommends contestants wear.

The obstacles will see the contestants standing on top of each other and hauling each other over barriers, so Yost says the more protection the better.

"A long compression pant would work really well and save the shins a little bit and a compression top would help out.

"In the world of obstacle course racing and Spartan, wearing pants and a top helps with abrasions so you don't get cut up as much. Some of the textures are a little bit rough so you don't want to scuff yourself up."

She looks like she’s having a ball.

Despite his advice, some contestants still chose to go shirtless as they tackled the course and Yost said they probably walked away with several "bumps and bruises".

Another big difference between Spartan and Ninja Warrior is the skills needed to conquer the course.

Ninja Warrior relies heavily on grip strength which is why so many rock climbers did well on the Channel Nine show, but that's not the case with Spartan.

"You need to be good across the board, it's not just about grip strength," Yost told news.com.au.

"It's how you work as a team that really gets you through. I like to think of this race as a really efficient machine that's made up of cogs and some of those cogs are fitness components and some of those cogs are communication, teamwork and tactical."

Australian Spartan, which was filmed late last year in Brisbane, is hosted by Edwina Bartholomew and Hamish McLachlan with Wendell Sailor serving as the sideline reporter.